


Mer Mates

by animangod



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Captivity, Codependency, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Freedom, Friendship/Love, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Love, M/M, Marine Mammals, Memories, Minor Character Death, Ocean, Photography, Romantic Fluff, Suicidal Thoughts, Years Later, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 04:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16590683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animangod/pseuds/animangod
Summary: Began to write for KuroFai Week. Kurogane is a merman. Fai is a human. Everything will be okay.  Probably. Also Kurogane is based off the oarfish in this story.Did you notice a strange word? Yeah... that'll come back.





	1. Pet Names

**PART 1**

 

“Hey Guppy Gills~” Fai cooed, sitting at the edge of the large seawater tank and letting his feet ripple the water. The man sat there patiently as he looked down, smiling brightly at the life below.

 

There was movement from below. 14 meters of merman went from bored circles and asymmetrical hourglasses, his dorsal fin undulating, before heading straight up. When he was close to breaking the surface, he changed direction again some and his long, bony tail splashed water at the human before turning in a circular movement to face him, the body-length red dorsal fin flaring as he surfaced more. Just enough he would have no trouble going back under on his own.

 

His torso was mostly brown with flecks of blue, silver and black while his mostly silver tail shimmered with flecks of blue, brown and black. Red pectoral and pelvic fins adorned him as well as what appeared to be black hair where the longest parts of his dorsal fin were, looking like an ornate crown as the longest parts went down through the hair and became short as soon as it got to the merman's neckline.

 

“What do you want, Barracuda?”

 

Fai laughed at the response, even as his legs were now completely soaked from the splash. “Do I really look like a barracuda, my favorite fish?” he asked as he playfully kicked at the water.

 

“Who you calling a fish, Split Tails?”

 

“Why you,” Fai said with a cheeky grin, “my scaly sweetie.”

 

“I only look scaly, you selkie.”

 

“Silly - I can swim without the second skin but it just makes it that much easier to stay underwater with you for a while,” Fai said, “It's hard to give you a good belly rub if we can't both breathe.”

 

There was another splash at that, drenching Fai from his blond hair down. Fai only laughed harder at that, “Now, now… there's no need to be so shy~ don't you want your supper, curly cutie?”

 

“I want more space, but dinner will do, Blondie,” Kurogane replied before he moved about until he could settle near him, his chest just barely out of the water and his tail below as he rested only his arms in the man's lap. He had flopped onto the man's lap once as he sat there and was soon pushed back into the water. Over 300 pounds of bones and muscles was a lot for a lap above water to suddenly take on, he had learned, and he had only grown since then. Underwater was fine, but not above.

 

“I'm working on that, darling,” Fai said sympathetically as he grabbed the bucket of shrimp that was just for Kurogane. He may look like he had a large mouth, but it was only big when it came to handling words. It was designed for swallowing small sea creatures. In his life in captivity, he ate mostly prawns as it was the biggest food he would naturally eat and it kept the red in his fins looking healthy. Krill and plankton were added to his tank so he didn't entirely lose his hunting abilities, and the jellyfish he could eat were not safe for the humans to bring him. Especially if they wanted to reliably go swimming with him.

 

Kurogane quietly swallowed the food, the shrimp still alive but not able to move fast and as he wasn't swimming swiftly to swallow them, they were hand fed to get them to go down easier.

 

“One day Kuro-kuu, you'll have so much room you can fully stretch out and not touch plexiglass,” Fai promised.

 

“I'm counting on you, Blondie,” he said between shrimp.

 

Fai smiled at that, as he fed the mer more food until the the end of his tail twitched and slapped into the plexiglass to let Fai know he didn't want any more at the moment, so Fai took the bucket and put it behind him.

 

He knew this tank was getting cramped and lacked enough natural and entertaining stimuli to keep the mer satisfied, but until the new tank was completed, he hoped Kurogane wouldn't be too uncomfortable in this tank.

 

“Would you like me to come in there and give you a good rub, my pretty anemone?”

 

“If you want to, Glow Ball.”

 

Fai smiled at that, and went to take the bucket away and change into a suit to go swimming with him.

 

It had started as a playful joke, Fai calling him “as cuddly as an anemone”. After figuring out what he said, Kurogane had called him his equivalent of the anglerfish, although it took almost as long for the message to get across. Loosely translated, Kurogane's name for the same creature was Glowing Ball With Many Teeth.

 

Ever since then, as the vocabulary increased, so did the names, although they had their favorites. Fai learned a lot about the names Kurogane called things and there were hardly any they shared a similar name. Porpoise was one of them and Kurogane had made the joke it wasn't on porpoise, which told Fai enough about Kurogane's level of intelligence.

 

Kurogane had come to recognize a lot of human words, not only for sea life but human life as well, as it helped him communicate with his caretakers better. Many things he would have no reason to know about in the wild without it being something that was polluting his home were things he was slowly being introduced to.

 

However, as he was taken from the ocean during his adolescence, Fai worried about what would happen if they tried to release him into the ocean without him having access first to a contained but almost natural environment first. If they were ever going to fully return his freedom to him, he wanted to be sure it wouldn't be a death sentence for him.

 

With the gear on, Fai waded into the tank's shallow spot, before stepping into the deeper waters. Another few steps and he could drift to the bottom of the tank. He gently petted Kurogane's dorsal crown, as he was the only one Kurogane allowed to touch there, before slowly getting to rubbing the mer's belly, Kurogane seemingly floating in the waters as Fai touched him.

 

Fai had once asked about why Kurogane didn't let others touch his dorsal crown. Rather than get an answer in words then, Kurogane sulked on the tank floor and proved he could go quite a while without air or food if he didn't move more than a small twitch.

 

Beyond language differences, that was the closest to a fight he thought they had. When he quit sulking by his sleeping area, Kurogane had used a finger to smear silvery letters on the plexiglass.

 

O n l E    m A t

 

The t looked more like an anglerfish tooth than the actual letter, but it was how he wrote it and he wrote the same message over and over until he was sure his message got through.

 

Kurogane had learned to write and spell by how the words sounded to him with hard letters big and soft letters small. For example,’phone’ was fON.

 

Hard o soft n, soft l, hard e. Soft m hard a soft t. Fai quickly realized just what he was saying. Only mate.

 

While some of his colleagues teased him about accidentally agreeing to be a mer mate, Fai softly apologized to Kurogane, reaching to pet him. “I'm sorry - I didn't know only your mate is allowed to touch you there.”

 

It seemed that was enough for Kurogane to forgive him back then.

 

Kurogane slowly sang underwater and while Fai couldn't understand the words, he recognized it was a happier song as he rubbed Kurogane's belly. Kurogane never said aloud he enjoyed them but he certainly ate up the attention whenever one of his caretakers would spend time with him in the tank.

 

One day, Fai promised him. One day, he wouldn't always be on display. One day, he would have room enough to stretch and be able to actually hunt for all of his food, like he would in the wild. One day, he would not lack for things to do. One day, he would have whatever he wanted. And one day, he told him, he would learn all he could to show he was willing to be as good a mer mate as he could for Kurogane.

 


	2. Cameras

**Part 2**

 

Kurogane had taken a small interest into the phone Fai would carry around and push buttons on. He usually hid it somewhere before he saw him but sometimes he would still have it.

 

When he saw he still had it one time, he reached out to touch it and see what was so special, yet Fai put it away. Kurogane pouted at that.

 

Fai politely smiled. “Don’t worry - you have all my attention now.”

 

“Phone… I want to see it.”

 

“Eh? Ah - my phone?”

 

“Phone… everyone else has one, even you… I want see what so good about them,” Kurogane said.

 

“Ah, so that’s it…perhaps it'd be fine to let you borrow it.”

 

“Borrow?”

 

“Remember that game when I give you something and then you give it back?”

 

“Yeah..”

 

“It's like that. However, because it is a phone, they don't like water so try not to drop it.”

 

“Why don't they like water? Water is life.”

 

“Aha, that’s a good question...but I don’t think there’s a good reason on why.” He knew why. Profits. That was the big reason why. The companies had the technology to build them, had it available for mass production but making them easily destroyed and obsolete sold more of them. However, that sort of greed was not something he wanted to introduce to Kurogane, if he could avoid it. He already understood too well about pollution.

 

Kurogane was quiet before he held out his hands to Fai again, “Borrow phone? I won’t drop it.”

 

Fai pulled it out of his pocket and let Kurogane see it.

 

Kurogane poked at it, but the screen didn’t turn on, and a bead of water from his finger slid down the screen. Fai pushed a button on the side for Kurogane and the screen lit up. Kurogane saw which one. So he tried pressing it too, and the screen went back to black. After some consideration, he pressed it again, and the screen lit up again.

 

“Is that all it does?”

 

“Ah no - here…” He puts in a numerical password, and the screen changes entirely. There’s several small icons on the screen now. “These are some of the different things I can access on my phone.”

 

Kurogane, for his skill at writing by phonetics, cannot read a single one of them. So he presses a finger against the screen as though it would change, and watched as a second screen start to come around. Curiously, he dragged it in front of him and unlike the other screen, he sees words he can read, taNGk plans. lElEk. EZ kam.

 

Letting go, he went and pushed on EZ kam, and the screen changed to a view of his tank. Moving it about, he watched the view it had changed and focused on whatever he had it pointed at. “This is good.”

 

“It gets better,” Fai said.

 

“How better?”

 

“Cameras take pictures so you can save that moment in time and look back at it.”

 

“How make camera do that?”

 

“There's a place to push on cameras that takes the picture. On this one, it's right here,” Fai pointed at a round image. Kurogane pushed on it and heard the shutter sound before for a moment he saw the same thing and then it disappeared. 

 

“Where'd it go?”

 

“Gallery.”

 

“That's where art goes.”

 

“Ah, yes. Yes indeed. And that's why people named the photo storage place on phones Gallery, because photos can also be art.”

 

“Hey Glowy, what's this thing do? It kinda looks like one of those cameras that goes flash.”

 

“Ah it's to change which way this camera is facing, go ahead and try it.”

 

Carefully, Kurogane pushed the icon and the image changed and moving the phone about, he could see himself and Fai and some of what was behind them. Fai crowded in some and hit the button he showed Kurogane earlier to take a picture.

 

Fai smiled as he gently took his phone back and got out of camera and went to the Gallery app to show Kurogane the picture of them. “Definitely keeping this one,” Fai said.

 

Kurogane looked at it and turned a little to ask, “how do I get it? I want picture too.”

 

“Of course. I'll make you a copy you can keep.”

 

“When?”

 

“By tomorrow.”

 

“It takes that long?”

 

“The creation of it no, but you need sleep so I'll make it after you go to sleep, and bring it with me tomorrow.”

 

“Alright.”

 

After leaving for the night, he got the picture of them printed and after writing a single word on the white area, he had it laminated and tested it himself to make sure it could handle staying under warm salty water. Satisfied there was no leaking into the photo paper, he wrapped it up for Kurogane. It looked like he should invest in an underwater camera for Kurogane until a phone was feasible.

 

The next day, Kurogane was looking forward to Fai's arrival more than usual, watching the different tourists and every time one of the workers came near his tank. From the light, he should be here soon. Where was he?

 

He wouldn't have forgotten him. He was sure of that, but where was he? He was grooming himself some, rubbing away at loosened skin and his palms growing iridescent as he would check back every so often for Fai

 

Fai smiled almost apologetically when Kurogane saw him walking with a bag among all the other people, heading towards the Employees Only area.

 

Kurogane moved over to the glass, his hands touching it, and leaving prints. He traced ‘l A t’ at him. The iridescent letters showed up as his loose skin was made up almost exclusively of guanine.

 

Fai walked over and traced as well with his free hand and while it wasnt with colors, Kurogane watched the message, slowly processing it.

 

s O r E

h a v   s e r p r I z  

f e r   U

 

Kurogane looked at him and the bag before swimming towards the top of his tank. Fai headed up there as quickly as he could, where Kurogane was holding onto the edge and watching the door where the humans go in and out of, waiting. Waiting. He knew Fai was here, it was just a matter of how much time it took for him to - there, movement.

 

As soon as he saw the movement go from steps to his mate, he called out for him. “Glowy, where were you?” He asked.

 

“Testing something out. I'm sorry, darling - I didn't realize it took so long.”

 

Kurogane's tail swished below him. “Wanted to see you.”

 

_ You should write a book _ , Fai thought fondly. “I'm  here now. I'll spend as much time with you as you want today, sweetie.”

 

That made Kurogane happy to hear and he almost forgot about the surprise.

 

Fai moved closer and held the bag towards Kurogane, “would you like your surprise now or later?”

 

Kurogane was quiet as he briefly thought, “Blondie first.”

 

Fai set the bag down and moved to sit at the edge of the tank. Affectionately, he brushed a hand against his arms, his fingers picking up a pearlescent sheen. “Getting ready to shed again, I see.”

 

“Not my fault... water isn't deep enough to not shed.”

 

“What was the water like where you came from?” Even though he couldn't give a depth in feet or meters, he had spent his early life there.

 

“It was cold and dark. Family go close to surface because it warm. Or lelek. Or mate. Or dying. The biggest threat we had was sharks. But we could heal if they went for tail.”

 

“You could lose your tail and it would heal?” Fai asked curiously. It had been years and he was still learning new things about Kurogane's oceanic world. He knew about lelek, as that is when Kurogane had been at the surface and captured in a net - he swore they would never use a net on him again. And since Kurogane wasn't the chattiest, he didn't talk often about his past much so he would soak up all the information about it whenever Kurogane shared.

 

“Yeah, would simply heal up and if the shark dumb enough to try eating tail, would get sick and die.”

 

“Would you like to tell me more about that?”

 

“Okay, you know the flying letter you have told me about? It has fins for swimming in the air and a tail and looks all fuzzy?”

 

“Yes,” Fai confirmed. A bee. Kurogane meant a bee.

 

“It kinda like that. When a shark threatened my family, Father let it bite part of his tail and it just came off and we all got to leave. Then later, lots of food and other animals were eating the shark so we got a meal and the shark wasn't a threat anymore.”

 

“Is that something you share with others?”

 

Kurogane was quiet for a bit, and looked a little sad before he said. “... Ma said it was a built in defense we have against them, but we can only use it once. I don't know how many else have it.”

 

The bee reference made more sense with that addition.

 

“Well, hopefully you'll never need to lose your tail.”

 

“Ah,” Kurogane agreed. “Bad enough lose my skin. Don't want to lose my tail too.”

 

“Does shedding hurt?”

 

“A little,” he quietly admitted after a while.

 

“Hopefully your new tank won't have that problem.”

 

“How will that change?”

 

“There's a few possible ways. A closed tank would allow us to adjust the temperature and how deep it feels. So when your at the surface, it's the lowest level of deep feeling so you don't shed. If we used an open tank style, about four body lengths is how deep you won't have to worry about shedding but it would take me longer to join you.”

 

“How come?”

 

“Mm, well I could do three with my usual method, but at four lengths, I risk getting sick if I don't use the second method. But either way, it's worth it to spend time with you, silky.”

 

If mers blushed. Instead, he slipped back under the water as if that would hide him.

 

Fai reached in and softly petted his dorsal crown, and softly cooed, “my shy star.”

 

Kurogane didn't deny that as after a moment he nuzzled some into that hand.

 

“Well I guess I should give you that gift,” Fai commented prompting Kurogane to peek back out of the water, “share from Gallery?”

 

“Indeed,” Fai affirmed and grabbed the bag pulling out the laminated image. It was wrapped up in waterproof wrapping paper - sold as flower wrapping paper - to give him the extra fun of opening it. And as it was waterproof, it was durable and reusable, something they both appreciated. Below the picture of the two of them, ‘m A t’ were written close to how he wrote it but they were a glittering golden instead of shimmery silvery. His tail wiggled excitedly at seeing that.

 

“I like,” he said before going to decorate the bottom of his tank - the fake shipwreck where he slept - with it and coming back up afterwards. “Keeper.”

 

“I'm glad… did you like taking pictures?”

 

Kurogane nodded some, “yeah.”

 

“Then I think you're going to like your other gift,” Fai said.

 

“Other gift? I get more than one gift?” he asked, a little surprised by that.

 

Fai smiled at that. “For my darling mate, absolutely,” he said and pulled out the present that had also been wrapped. When Kurogane unwrapped it, in his hands was a camera that was mostly black and red.

 

“It's a camera you can take with you throughout your tank and not worry about breaking it and when you run out of room or it needs more energy, I can borrow your camera to print any of your pictures you want or give it more energy.”

 

Kurogane nuzzled into him hearing that, “my mate is amazing.” He then asked, “will you show me how?”

 

“Of course, Kuro-fin,” Fai smiled and settled close to Kurogane to show him how to turn it on and off, the photo button which looked a little more like a push down lever, as well as the different features he could use, or look back at pictures he had taken. After the lesson, it didn't take long for Kurogane to take a picture of Fai. He looked back at it and showed it to Fai.

 

“Aw it's a little blurry,” he commented, “shall we delete it?”

 

“Don't delete my mate.”

 

Fai blushed at the simple phrase, that even a blurry picture of him was still worth keeping. Smiling, he kissed the top of Kurogane's crown, “love you too, Kuro.”


	3. Worry

**PART 3**

 

Soel Mokona was one of the caretakers, and both Fai and Kurogane thought she was a good friend. Fai thought she was so easy to get along with and talk to, and Kurogane thought she told good stories everytime she came and always asked if he wanted to hear an old one or a new one.

 

Golde Loks and The Three Coves. The Rainbow Ray. The Minnow and the Eel. Shoaly Reefer and the Cave of Secrets. To name a few.

 

As such, the two often talked to her but she was good at not sharing those conversations unless it was meant to be shared.

 

So when Kurogane was acting different from his usual behavior, Fai slightly worried about him and brought up the behaviour with her.

 

“... he has been extra clingy the last two days. I mean, he's always been affectionate towards me, and sometimes he tries to keep me there longer, but I checked and he hasn't gone to his sleeping area and just before lunch, he tried to climb out of his tank and follow me. Kuro-tan's never done that before. I'm concerned something happened...but I don't know what it could be.”

 

“Well he's already in love with you ~ maybe he's being extra clingy because it's mating season,” Soel suggested. “You did say he goes surface side for mating.”

 

“Are you saying he-” he began and tried not to blush at the insinuation from the younger girl.

 

“He probably wants to make love with you~” Soel said with a soft giggle as she ate her triangular cut sandwiches, “but seriously, did you change soaps or use a new cologne recently? If he's trying to follow you out, he might be worried over something outside the tank when you leave him.”

 

“Hmm….” Fai mused, as he tried to remember if he did anything like that. It took him a bit before he thought of something that might have bothered Kurogane, “Body Works was having a clearance on candles and had new products for the season so I was having fun trying them all out. Maybe I didn't wash off the new scents as well as I thought?”

 

“Well it is Kuro chan. He can't leave the water for long so it might be some perceived invisible competition or it might be something else entirely.”

 

Fai grew quiet as he contemplated what to do before saying, “I'll figure out for sure what’s bothering him and figure out how to make things better after lunch.”

 

“What a lovely lovey dovey couple you two are~”

 

Fai smiled at that and after lunch, he went to change into his gear. It didn't take long to see the surveillance video of Kurogane, as he would look through the lower level glass, searching about before making a dart for the surface and checking on the door. About a minute passed before he flicked his tail and headed down to peer through the lower glass. Fai guessed Kurogane knew more about how time flowed than he usually let on.

 

He had been tested on it once but didn't seem to care about the test, saying ‘now’ whenever he got bored once he realized that it ended the test. But when it came to seeing Fai, he was more aware, it seemed. Fai took a date stamp for checking on later before he went out of the room to see Kurogane, timing it so Kurogane would likely be on his way up as he stepped out of the door.

 

Fai had barely taken two steps past the door before Kurogane broke through the surface. Lifting himself up, he saw who we wanted and his tail slapped into the glass, like a dog's wagging tail.

 

“There you are, Glowy.”

 

“I'm back,” he affirmed, “did you miss me, my beautiful mate?”

 

“Ah.. missed you.”

 

“Well, I got the second skin so I can join you underwater until the air is gone,” Fai said. “Would you like that?”

 

Kurogane nodded.

 

Fai walked over and reached to softly pet his dorsal crown, “I'm sorry if I worried you.”

 

“Worried? Is that like missed you?”

 

“It's similar,” Fai began, as he sat on the edge of the tank, and tried to think of a good explanation.

“When I'm late, what are you thinking about when I'm gone?”

 

“Where are you…”

 

“Are you mad when I'm late?”

 

“Not mad. Not mad at Blondie.”

 

“Is it like you're scared?”

 

Kurogane considered that for a bit, before he finally said, “...maybe a little scared...”

 

“Worried is like…if something that could be the future seems a little scary or when you want to see someone and you are a little scared for them.”

 

“Then… worried, yes,” he said, leaning into Fai's legs.

 

“Is there something you're a little scared for me about?”

 

Kurogane was quiet for a bit, before saying, “.. that you're in danger.”

 

“Do you feel I'm in danger now?”

 

“No.. because I can feel you're here. Here and safe.”

 

“And...when I leave, do you normally feel I'm in danger?”

 

He shook his head a little, and quietly said, “you normally feel happy… or playful.. sometimes sad feel like when you leave me. Lots of times you feel like there is danger. It normally really quiet feel but it is sometimes loud feel, and ...And I don't want you to be in danger. I don't want to always miss you.”

 

Fai was quiet for a bit - he no longer guessed it had anything to do with the shopping trip for candles  - before he softly petted Kurogane's cheek. “Even if my words don't make the feel go away, I'll say it anyway. I won't do anything to be in danger, not on porpoise.”

 

He had never addressed his mental health issues with Kurogane, and some days it was harder to deal with them, but he had promised himself he would never be selfish enough to hurt Kurogane so badly by never returning.

 

“Promise?”

 

Fai kissed the top of Kurogane's dorsal crown, “I promise. Even if I'm not on time, or if I don't show up for a little while, I'll always come back to be with you.” As long as he was alive, he would honor that promise.

 

Kurogane relaxed more hearing that and reached for Fai's hands, “swim with me now.. please?”

 

Fai made a small coo at that, and kissed his head again, before putting the mask fully on and turning on the air.

 

Kurogane knew what that meant and gave him a little room to join him in the tank, waiting until he plopped in with him before reaching to hold his hands again.

 

Fai didn't resist, holding his hands as they floated near the surface yet completely submerged.

 

Kurogane didn't make a move to mate, and Fai wondered if there was some sort of ritual to it, yet thankful he wasn't trying while they had other people around.

 

While Fai wondered about mating rituals, Kurogane still had no idea where Fai's cloaca was supposed to be. But even if he didn't figure it out before mating season ended, he wanted to spend as much time with Fai during that time as he could.


	4. Moving

**PART 4**

 

It was the day they could finally move him to the new tank. However...

 

“Blondie,... it looks uncomfortable.”

 

Kurogane did not want to get on the sling.

 

“This is going to be the easiest way to get you out, sweet bean. Just try it, please? And it you really don't like, we can try something else,” Fai said encouragingly. He reached to gently pet and reassure Kurogane, “I'll be with you the entire time.”

 

Kurogane leaned into the touch, and tried to stay calm. It was a huge change, and while yes he wanted more room, he hadn't exactly thought too deeply how they would do that. 

 

It was more than he was used to, but at least he didn't have a bunch of kids watching him today as his caretakers planned on getting him moved. He didn't know why for sure - something about they closed for the day.

 

“We're going to take you somewhere special but we need to get you out of here first.”

 

Kurogane was quiet at that before swimming to the bottom of the tank. Fai was briefly worried as he went into the shipwreck sleeping quarters. He was a bit relieved when he saw him returning, carrying the treasure chest from within it. Kurogane held it out to Fai. “Borrow.”

 

Fai gently took the chest. “I'll take good care of it until you want it back.” The chest was naturally heavy and dripping as he pulled it up out of the water. Not as heavy or dripping water as Kurogane was about to be but it was no 20 pound box either.

 

Kurogane took his time trying to get adjusted to the sling, moving to find a comfortable spot to stay put, more or less. When he stopped moving about, the sling slowly was lifted. Kurogane was apprehensive about it, and Fai kept his voice soothing and supportive to ease his nerves.

 

“You're doing great love,” Fai said and gave his head a kiss when he hadn't freed himself from the sling as it got close to pulling his dorsal fins out of the water. He'd barely be able to move on his own once those fins were out of water - it was his primary generator of movement and with it exposed, the end of his tail could move and he had his arms and head. Beyond that, he would be at the mercy of those handling him.

 

“There's my amazing mate. See? Nothing we can't get through together.” 

 

Kurogane's tail flicked a little but he stayed in the sling. He considered saying only the once he was willingly going through with this but just in case, he said nothing about it. Instead, he said “gonna try and sleep, Glow ball.”

 

Fai gave him another soft kiss, “Sleep as long as you need darling. I'll be with you.”

 

There was a soft nuzzle into him before Kurogane adjusted to look more like he was sulking. The more steady twitching continued for a few minutes, before it slowed almost to a halt. Like that, Fai helped support the sling with one arm and carried Kurogane's chest with the other. With all the volunteers and handlers assisting, the sling was carefully taken outside.

 

Outside the aquarium, the sling was gently placed and secured into a customized tank for travel purposes, including padding to protect against stopping. The tank sat on a flatbed truck and once Kurogane and his attending caretakers were on board and in position, did the vehicle begin moving, going slowly as to not jostle the merman inside the tank.

 

Hours passed as Fai watched over Kurogane, his feet dangling in the tank, as he knew Kurogane could sense his presence better that way, and it would likely keep him from panicking. They continued to pour water over him to make sure none of him dried out. It would be hard enough on his system to move.

 

Even if it was for the best, change was hard. Fai didn't mention all that went into it. Not because he didn't think Kurogane wouldn't understand but because he wanted to protect him from what little he could.

 

The move to get him into the new tank was smoother than getting him out of the first one. Once there, many of the handlers left once Kurogane was placed in the tank. Soel hung out but went to the control room to make sure the tank was properly functioning.

 

Kurogane twitched more as Fai let Kurogane semi lay on him below the water and pet his head until he finally moved his head to look up. Fai smiled at him.

 

“Hey beautiful,” Fai said affectionately.

 

“Hey selkie,” he greeted in return before glancing about some. He could see tank wall behind Fai and his chest sitting nearby them. “Are we at the new tank?”

 

“We are,” Fai confirmed. “This area is deep enough you can swim without having to come out of water while shallow enough I can sit here with you when you feel like lazing about on me...”

 

A small twitch formed at that idea and Fai gently kissed Kurogane's head. “Welcome to your new home, love.”

 

“If you helped plan it, know I will like. You always done your best for me, Two Tails.”

 

There's a small flush at that, “why don't you check out your new tank and I'll join you soon, Scales?”

 

“Ok, Gulpy.”

 

Kurogane slowly moved away from Fai and went to explore this new tank. He moved from the shallow end and near the top and tested the distance. With few exceptions, he had a minimum of three times the space of his old tank in each direction. There was sand and rocks and plants at the bottom where the surface light didn't reach. The water was different but it felt more homely. There was a round door near the bottom by artificial crevices, and the words N kAs of lElEk. There was krill and plankton and young prawns and other zooplankton. They even included a filter disguised as an underground volcano where jets of hot bubbles and streams helped keep the movement and provided that desired relaxing stimuli for Kurogane.

 

Kurogane headed back up in a better mood than he left his last place and it didn't take him long to feel the electric sensation he recognized as Fai drop into the water. He swam over quickly but slowed down so he didn’t hurt Fai. Fai reached out, seeing Kurogane come from above and they soon hugged. Even if Fai had seen most of it prior to finalizing it with low light and sea water, Kurogane had fun showing him about and talking to him as though he could understand. A couple words he could but most he needed more time to properly process what was said. He could tell Kurogane was happy from his tone, and that was enough to make him smile.

 

They eventually came back to the surface and Kurogane talked about where he'd like to put his treasures. Fai smiled as he attentively listened to it all and asked about his comfort levels and how was everything. Kurogane appreciated that and explained as well as he could. After awhile, he asked about the door with the message even he could read.

 

“The circle door… what does it do?”

 

“Just in case we have lelek, it means even if I lose you, it won’t be the death of you.”

 

“Why would you lose me?”

 

“Mm… well, right now it’s set up so I can join you closer to your level, but… it has a second purpose. In case something happened, I wanted to make sure you had a way to safely get away. It won't be the same waters you knew but it should eventually lead to them...”

 

“What about you?” Kurogane asked.

 

Fai smiled faintly. “As much as I love you, humans won't survive forever underwater. We need to come back to land that is kind to us. So I'd only be able to follow you for so long should you leave through there.”

 

Kurogane grew quiet as he thought over that. The thought that he could find his family again if he used that door crossed his mind, but leaving Fai behind…

 

“Then.. when lelek happens, I will take you with me. Even if not like the waters, nothing we can't get through together.”

 

“I have the best mate,” Fai said.

 

Fai waited until later to cry about that. He'd never felt as wanted as he did then. Kurogane knew he could leave but he chose to continue sacrificing his own freedom. On top of that, he wouldn't leave him behind during lelek. He didn't think he deserved Kurogane's loyalty, but he planned to cherish it nonetheless.


	5. Mental Health

__ **PART 5**

 

Kurogane felt the shift, and while Fai still wore a smile, it was not that of the jovial man he knew best; this was a different part of Fai, a part he sometimes saw. It was something he knew happened but had been given no explanation for why he changed and not enough words to describe the sudden change.

 

But even if he hadn't sensed it, the words that he heard next told him he was right, that this was the other Fai.

 

“Good afternoon, Kurogane.”

 

The Fai he knew best never called him by his full human name. Only this part of him did.

 

“I see you have returned. Is he alright?”

 

“Fai will be fine.”

 

Kurogane felt better about that, and while he wasn't as familiar with this part of him, he was comfortable enough that he relaxed nearby.

 

“Good,” Kurogane replied. “I like it best when he is fine.”

 

“I find the feeling is mutual, Kurogane.”

 

Kurogane lazed about in the shallows while he was here, where sometimes talk was initiated. And for the most part, this Fai only spoke when spoken to, greetings being one of the few things he would initiate rather than wait.

 

This overly polite self was too calm, too quiet, too polite for the jovial Fai he knew best, and while he recognized this Fai coming around whenever his Fai used the second method of breathing underwater, he came out other times too. Loud noises of something falling and breaking was another common time and just as suddenly as Fai would jerk, wide eyed, this detached self showed up with complete calmness and a quiet voice. But Fai didn't seem aware of him, only that he would lose time sometimes and have no idea just how much had passed without clocks to give him an estimate. And while this side was fully aware of his Fai, he seemed to have no memories outside of the time he was around. 

 

He remembered once Fai was nearby having climbed out after swimming with him and he apologized to Soel for the mess and promised to clean it up, when Soel had slipped and dropped a cup of hot chocolate she was bringing over to Fai to help him warm up with.

 

Soel apologized to Fai for dropping it and offered to help him clean up.

 

“No it's my fault it broke.”

 

“A promise is a promise. We shouldn't break a promise. Right?” He had said.

 

“Kurogane is right. We should not break a promise.”

 

Soel and he were both shocked but Soel recovered sooner, and promised to make him a new cup then.

 

That was the first time Kurogane had heard Fai not call him by a nickname and he stared as Fai slowly picked up the ceramic pieces with his bare fingers, adding them to his hand and moving to throw them away.

 

It was foreign enough to hear Kurogane from him, but the pieces were still steaming, and Fai - sensitive to anything too warm Fai - was picking them up as if he couldn't even feel the temperature of the broken cup.

 

After the spilled drink was cleaned up, it seemed Fai had no memory of the incident, and from then on, Soel was a lot more careful whenever she brought something out.

 

He saw his Fai everyday and while he still would disappear for times, meals and sleep being the biggest reasons, he got to see him a lot more often, and he liked that.

 

Yet, with the change in environment, Fai sometimes showed up with dark marks and whenever Kurogane saw them and asked, he laughed them off and said he had no memory of how he even got them. They would fade over time but new ones always managed to appear every so often and he wondered what kept doing that to his mate.

 

And as much as he wondered about where the marks came from, he wondered if Fai wore the second skins to purposely hide the dark marks that came and fade from the children and others behind the tank in his last home. But without having to worry most days about anyone but Kurogane and the other caretakers seeing him - Kurogane had agreed to have an open to the public day once a month as long as kids showed up - the second skins had for the most part changed, exposing more of his skin more of the time.

 

Sometimes, neither Fai nor the detached other self were present as Fai drifted off and it lasted for minutes, sometimes hours before he came back to awareness, and if he had been near the tank, he would come back to awareness in Kurogane's arms as Kurogane slowly swam with him, making sure to keep Fai's head out of water and watch over him until he could swim without assistance.

 

Fai always smiled affectionately at that and reached up and cooed at him. Kurogane knew it was his Fai if he was making coo noises at him. The polite Fai wouldn't make those kinds of noises.

 

He didn't think he would ever get answers but as long as Fai was going to be fine, then he didn't think it mattered too much if he never understood entirely why the other Fai showed up.

 

The other self eventually disappeared again and with his feet in the water, he knew he was returning to his Fai. When he was back, he asked him a question he knew the answer to, but it was to simply reaffirm it was him.

 

“Are the kids coming tomorrow?”

 

“No, sweetie. It's next week. And the Dukylon School has already said they'd love to take a field trip here.”

 

Kurogane's tail twitched happily to hear that. “Soon. Lots of kids.”

 

“Yeah - and we'll have different fun activities to do with them.”

 

Kurogane splashed more at that. “Kids will have a splash.”

 

Fai softly laughed at that. “Absolutely.”


	6. Holiday

**PART 6**

 

Kurogane had been idly lazing by the warm bubbles, as it was a luxury he could enjoy in captivity. No one but his food - and occasionally Fai - to fight for the good spots.

 

He could admit that and the fact there were no threats from sharks or even from the ‘black spot’ - Fai called them orcas - were two of the biggest perks to being confined.

 

One of the few things he still missed even after all these years was his family. Sometimes, he wondered how they were doing. He tried never to dwell long on the subject as the odds were not in his favor of ever seeing them again. The day he had been caught, he had clutched at the net, trying to get out of it, but with no fangs and no claws, he hadn't been able to free himself so he had screamed and cried at his family, mostly to warn them of the nets so none of them were caught too. Trapped as he was, it was the only thing he could do to protect them. That had been many years ago now.

 

Moving away from the bubbles, he swam about leisurely. He was full from his meal and went to check on his bedroom. It was not the shipwreck style of before but more a cavern style with moss that bioluminesced. His chest sat by and images of Fai and human children covered parts of his cavern walls. His camera was tucked up higher.

 

Kurogane liked the reminder of the kids. Even if they sometimes reminded him he would never have his own, he knew he would rather never have children than force them to live a life of captivity. It had a few perks, yes, but only because the humans cared to make it so. Years had passed of being in a tank too small and too shallow for his needs before the second tank was ready. Considering he was one of five and raised with eighteen kids and five parents, that's multiple lives that would be raised in captivity. Eventually just like he was from his family, they would be forcefully separated. He didn't want kids of his own if they would be treated like that. But pictures? Pictures he could keep and never worry the human children were being ripped away from their human family. He had borrowed them sometimes but they always got returned to their family.

 

Feeling the small tingle, Kurogane headed up to say hi.

 

Soel was there wearing a bright smile and a red second skin. While she wasn't as good at Fai at swimming, she could float on the surface better than both of them. “Hello there, Kuro-chan,” she greeted after he had surfaced.

 

“Hey,” he greeted back.

 

“Would you like me to tell you a story?” She asked.

 

“The Captain's Baby.”

 

The Captain's Baby was about pirates that fought a mer for the chest she carried, thinking it was full of treasures but not realizing it was her child's cradle. After discovering the truth, the pirates remorseful for taking away the child's  mother, raised her and worked hard to make sure the baby was fed and happy.

 

She grew up with them and even after knowing the truth of how the pirates got her, she still chose her pirate family. She knew no other family and loved the one she did have. When she grew too big for the ship to support her growing size, she joined the sea but stayed nearby her family's ship. When her pirate family's ship was attacked, she helped defend it and her family was surprised but so proud of her as well. It came to be that no one challenged the pirates and their mer daughter and they got to live exciting and long lives.

 

He liked hearing that story. It reminded him a little of his own human family. They weren't the family he was born with, they weren't even the same as he, but there was love and care for him inside them, and he cared for his caretakers as well. But it gave him a little hope that one day he too would be able to swim in the ocean and still maintain a good relationship with his own human family.

 

Kurogane wondered where she came up with such good stories but whenever he asked, she only giggled and said it was a secret. While he wasn't sure he would ever find out where she came up with them, she was still a good storyteller.

 

Fai came by and smiled as he held a glass with a yellowish drink, and Kurogane looked at the drink curiously. 

 

“What's that?”

 

“It's called eggnog,” Fai explained. “It is a drink that only comes around for about three months.”

 

“Egg..nog?”

 

“Yes, it's one of the many beverages people will drink. I could let you try but I don't think you'll like it,” Fai explained.

 

Kurogane considered it before asking, “try anyway?”

 

“Alright,” Fai said as he walked over. He dipped a finger in, and held it over Kurogane’s mouth. As he expected, Kurogane didn’t like it and tried to wash out the flavor with seawater. Fai softly laughed while protecting the rest of his drink, “I did say I didn’t think you’d like it.”

 

Kurogane eventually resurfaced even if the flavor wasn’t entirely gone. “So that egg nog only comes around around this time of year?”

 

“Yes. Around the holiday called Halloween, is about when it arrives. As soon as the calendar  year is about over with, so is eggnog season.”

 

“..... so you hunt nog during their mating season? Too much hunting and there won't be any more nog babies.”

 

“Ah, no...we don't hunt nogs to make it. It's only called eggnog but no nogs are hurt to make it,” Fai assured him. Even if he isn't fully sure what Kurogane thought a nog was, the mention of mating season and Fai was at least sure he thought it gave birth.

 

“Okay … so what holiday is today?”

 

“Here, it is Harvest Festival.”

 

“What do you do for it?”

 

“Have a lot of food and share it with loved ones, mostly. It's also a time when people think about what they're thankful for as well as focus on what's affecting peace, one's rights and the environment.”

 

Kurogane was quiet as he processed that before asking, “where are your other loved ones?”

 

“They're at Aunt Yuuko’s place,” Soel said. “I'll get to see them all tomorrow so I wanted to make sure you two weren't lonely today.”

 

Fai, meanwhile, didn't mention anything about other loved ones.

 

Kurogane noticed and waited until Soel went off to bring them all some food to celebrate with when Kurogane asked, “you don't have other loved ones?”

 

Fai looked a little sad at the thought. “At one point I did, but now…” he smiled a little more brightly, “Now I have you.”

 

Kurogane moved to nuzzle into Fai, “at one point I had other loved ones, but they were taken from me. Now I have you, and we have her too.”

 

Fai smiled a little more real at that, “and guess what?”

 

“What?” Kurogane asked.

 

“The thing I'm most thankful for is having you in my life.”

 

Kurogane tried hiding in the water immediately after hearing that.

 

“My mate is still so shy~”

 

Kurogane eventually resubmerged and dripped water onto Fai in the process.

 

“Wanna know what I'm thankful for?”

 

“What's that?”

 

“Many things. I have more space to swim and lots of food, and I have a friend, and I have my mate. And even when I feel alone, it's not for very long. And there's my camera you gave me. And use again stuff.”

 

Fai affectionately pet Kurogane's cheek, “those are all good things to be thankful for, Anemone.”

 

“I think so too, Glowy.”


	7. Lelek

**PART 7**

 

It was the thing that had cost him his freedom, those many years ago. But he knew it as he knew the feel of Fai and survival Fai and Soel. He knew the feeling as well as he knew his boundaries and the food that he ate.

 

He was thankful of one thing and that was Soel should be out of town - visiting her brother, so she should be safe from lelek.

 

Kurogane gathered his treasures up and put them in his chest, before carrying it to the surface and made a loud ruckus to get Fai's attention.

 

It took a little bit to get him to come out but not long to understand why Kurogane was calling for his attention.

 

“Lelek!” Kurogane repeated. “Lelek!”

 

It took too long in Kurogane's mind as he felt the vibrations, the slow tremors, that shook and they would only increase with time. He knew Fai was doing something as he noticed as the lights went off, felt the moment the water quit moving. He knew he was doing things, but...

 

Fai knew a day like this would arrive, but knowing and expecting it on a certain day were two separate things. He sent out the warning, the skeletal crew was giving as much warning and he requested they evacuated. Better safe than dead. The safe was secured and all the vital notes had been confirmed saved and backed up. He adjusted the escape hatch and turned off the power so a tsunami surge couldn't electrify the water and be a death trap later. There were so many small details that he had to ensure were taken care of before he could leave.

 

His waterproof bag was packed with what he thought would be essential and he slipped into the suit he used for those deeper dives with Kurogane. When he headed back to the tank, a part of him was a little surprised Kurogane was still waiting for him. Anxiously, but waiting.

 

Fai only took long enough to gently stroke Kurogane's crown before climbing into the tank and preparing to swim with him.

 

Kurogane wasted little time once Fai was with him, going to the door with his chest.

 

It took more time as Fai adjusted to the water pressure before he swam deeper, towards the door. Fai slowly began to open up the door and water soon began to fill the space. Kurogane didn't move towards the door, except to help Fai open it more. Fai was still surprised when Kurogane didn't simply make a break for it, and waited until he could nudge Fai in front of him before going through the door, nudging into Fai so they didn't get separated as they went through the tunnel. There was another door that pushed outwards and once Fai had unlocked it, the water pressure finished opening it, and sent them forward. There was no light and Fai went as straightforward as he could, partially relying on Kurogane as he could see more accurately.

 

It was a long tunnel and seeing what was ahead, Kurogane made a decision and held his chest out ahead of them and pulled Fai back when he saw a third door. The chest buckled and cracked in protest, even as the door was forced open and light suddenly filtered through the water from above.

 

Fai was shocked when he realized what just happened, but once they were both clear, he tried pushing the door back into place. Kurogane briefly tried to gather some of his treasures up again as they now had no traveling box - before helping shut the last door. While a natural precaution should have taken place, it was simply just in case.

 

They had got it about halfway before the water began to fight further shutting it. Nudging Fai away and urging him to hold his things, Kurogane gained momentary distance and speed and with a resounding kwang, slapped it as hard as he could with his tail, forcing the door shut once again.

 

Fai watched at the show of strength and it just reaffirmed Kurogane could have always left as long as he had water but he never tried before now. Glancing at the treasures of Kurogane, three of the five he immediately recognized. The gold letters, the camera, the strung ball of aquamarine. Each one he had given Kurogane. There also was a reflective square shaped piece of hard metal and the other item looked like a yellow tumbled stone from the souvenir shop from the Aquarium they had been at prior to the second tank. How Kurogane got his hands on them was a mystery to him. But since they were Kurogane's treasures, he made sure not to drop them.

 

Kurogane moved back to Fai, the movement so natural and as Fai did many times to his crown, he petted the back of Fai's head, even if it was currently surrounded. It was the gesture more than the actual touch. Fai smiled at that even as he wanted to touch back but didn't want Kurogane to lose anymore of his treasures. He wasn't sure just how many he just sacrificed to protect him from the impact.

 

Splitting the treasures between them, they traveled up to the surface. Above head the sky was peaceful, as if nothing could possibly be wrong. And yet. Kurogane could feel the vibration below, the ripples that radiated. It was the beginning as the land below was changed, moved, and sending ripples in its path. The first wave had begun, and more would follow. Just like below - the closer to shore, where land meets water, the more devastating the damage it would have. Further in, to where the ripples began would have only damage below as homes were destroyed, remodeled.

 

The ripples told him which way to swim to be at the center - the calmest area - and he waited until Fai was ready once again before swimming, ripples going about them, as they swam against the current to be safer from lelek. To be safe from the waves that would soon thrash across the land and rip as much as it could into the sea as the tremors and movements below displaced many fish and mers.

 

And as they swam together, Kurogane staying right next to Fai, he paused for a bit, feeling a familiar presence.

 

Fai looked at him curiously - as curiously as he can while in his diving suit, before he recognized the excited twitch in Kurogane's tail.

 

Kurogane wasn't sure how to tell Fai the news. That along with lelek, he sensed some of his family. The only way he supposed he could say was to show him.


	8. Outro

**PART 8**

 

19 confirmed casualties, 131 missing.

 

Fai got the news from Kusanagi, a police officer who often came during Kurogane's monthly or so Kids Day. He mentioned it could have been in the thousands of casualties if they hadn't had the early warning.

 

“I'm glad we were of some use,” Fai said a bit relieved. 150 people seemed like a lot to him, but it wasn't as many as it could have been. And he was thankful for that.

 

“So how's your husband doing?” He asked.

 

“He seems a lot happier these past days. He got to find some of his siblings and Ma. His Ma is really sweet. She keeps coming by and trying to feed me. I think she thinks I'm starving because she calls me ‘small child’.”

 

Kusanagi made a jolly noise hearing that, “seems you have been adopted into the family.”

 

“I never thought I'd have a family again,” Fai mused.

 

“Are you enjoying it?”

 

Fai paused a moment before smiling more, “I am. I think I'm going to have to buy another camera as soon as I can though. One of his sisters…cousins? …” Fai wasn't entirely sure “she seems to enjoy taking pictures as well. Kuro darling keeps coming over and saying she's borrowing his camera. He does this tiny pout as he says it before trying to pull me into the water for cuddles. It's really adorable. They're a lot more family and community oriented than we ever knew. He has three mer families and they all travel together whenever they move location.”

 

“Perhaps you should write a book on them” Kusanagi suggested. “the world could always use more understanding of nature.”

 

“That's a wonderful idea. I'll see if Soel wants to help as well. Kuro always enjoyed her stories after all.”

 

“Alright, well if you ever finish it, I'd love a copy or two for me and Yuzuriha.”

 

“Absolutely,” Fai beamed. Yuzuriha Nekoi, he knew her more for having a sweet tooth that rivaled his own. Mint chocolate chip ice cream and chocolate souffle and she would get dreamy eyed. As much as she would talking about her dog.

 

Feeling a small bump below, he looked down and saw a turtle, “ah there's a hawksbill here. I haven't seen one in the wild before. I'll hang up now and send you a picture if he sticks around,” Fai said.

 

“Thanks Fai-san.”

 

Smiling, Fai ended the call before using his phone to try and capture nice pictures of the turtle as it leisurely swam by. “Awh~ what a cute turtle you are…” Fai softly cooed at it. “And look at your tiny claws. The size said juvenile, and when it had drifted off, he glanced through his pictures before sending the nicest ones over. Getting an emoji to know Kusanagi received them, he turned off his phone and let it charge from the solar powered battery bank.

 

It took four years to write and then publish the research papers as well as a book aimed at teens and young adults. It didn't take long before the book found its way to bookshelves around the country.

 

Fai was happy ‘Finding My Home’ was such a success because it made it just that much easier to spend time with Soel's family and his mer family. Kurogane had his ways of showing that he was pleased with the results as well.

 

Cradling Fai in his arms as he swam upside down, he would ask, “share our story please?”

 

Fai would kiss his head, “as many times as you like.”

 

Kurogane may love Soel's ability to tell stories, but when it came to their story, he thought Fai was the best.

 

**THE END**


End file.
